CLASSIC: When West Virginia Begged the USSR for Foreign Aid episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 21, 2026 · 29 MIN

CLASSIC: When West Virginia Begged the USSR for Foreign Aid

from Ridiculous History · host iHeartPodcasts

In this week's Classic episode: Were it not for the coal mine, the town of Vulcan, West Virginia may well have never existed. As a rural and geographically isolated community, Vulcan relied on a single, small bridge for its connection to the larger world. When the bridge failed, the town repeatedly tried to get financial assistance from the local and state government -- with no success. In a state of increasing desperation, the Mayor of Vulcan wrote the Soviet Union for help... during the Cold War. Tune in and learn what happened next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 21, 2026

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CLASSIC: When West Virginia Begged the USSR for Foreign Aid

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